Chapter 905: Walking Corpses

Chapter 905: Walking Corpse

In the Yunruo Valley at night, peace and tranquility reigned.

In front of the bamboo hut, peach blossoms drifted and scattered, landing on Ye Chen and covering half of his body.

He slept restlessly, his brows furrowed, his face pale, and his expression filled with pain. Sweat soaked his clothes, and he seemed to be having a nightmare, his hands flailing about wildly.

When the Heavenly Demon assaults the Seven Evils, that will be the time for the immortals to battle the heavens!

These elusive words echoed like Buddhist scriptures being recited, lingering in his ears and mind without end, repeating over and over like a curse, making his slumber even more agonizing.

Day and night cycled, the sun and moon alternating.

In the blink of an eye, three to five days passed quietly.

Until one night under a bright moon, he finally sat up, completely buried beneath the peach blossoms.

Where is this place?

He shook his head, his eyes full of confusion as he gazed at this peaceful and serene paradise. Everything before him felt both familiar and strange, the fluttering petals appearing dreamlike and illusory in his dull eyes.

Who am I?

In the silent night, his murmured words echoed.

At some point, he stood up and walked to each peach blossom tree, staring blankly at the two characters carved on them.

He left, walking out of Yunruo Valley.

Under the moonlight, his steps were slow and aimless, with no destination or direction. He wandered across the vast earth, unable to distinguish reality from illusion, or dreams from reality. His shattered memories and wounded mind made him like a walking corpse.

Who am I? Who am I?

In the cold world, such murmurs continued intermittently.

Ye Chen stopped, standing before a small stream. The water flowed gently and clearly, yet it could not wash away the turbidity in his eyes.

At some point, he left again, appearing in the mountains and wandering through the valleys. He roamed under the sunlight and lingered in the darkness, like a lost wandering ghost, unable to find his way home or his origins.

Day after day, spring turned to autumn.

In the world, the wheel of time rolled on for an unknown duration—perhaps three to five days, or maybe three to five years.

This was a grand and imposing wall, stretching over three million li, like a massive dragon dividing Nan Chu from Bei Chu.

Indeed, such a vast project had been completed by Nan Chu.

Looking into the distance, the wall was tall and magnificent, every section gleaming with light and inscribed with array patterns. Heavenly Court cultivators patrolled along it, weapons in hand, executing anyone who dared to force their way through on the spot.

Nantian Gate, the largest city gate connecting Nan Chu to Bei Chu, faced directly toward Bei Chu.

Under the moonlight, a white-haired woman stood at the base of Nantian Gate. She wore a seven-colored immortal robe and a white cloak that swayed without wind. Her robe was spotless, and in the moonlight, she appeared saintly and flawless, as ethereal as a dream.

"Nan Chu Heavenly Court."

She murmured softly while gazing quietly at Nantian Gate, her beautiful eyes misting over, forming frost in the moonlight.

"Jie."

A choked voice rang out as Nantian Gate swung open wide. Chu Ling'er flew out, her eyes brimming with tears, and from a distance, she threw herself into the white-haired woman's arms.

"You've finally returned."

On the vast earth, Ye Chen continued to wander without pause. His clothes, battered by wind and sun, had become tattered, and his face was covered in stubble, making him look like a beggar.

His figure was thin, his back lonely and isolated.

His body sometimes turned ethereal and sometimes solidified, occasionally accompanied by strange visions: a place that was once full of birds and flowers became barren after he passed; a patch of dry, scorched earth turned lush and verdant in his wake.

Ahead, signs of human activity appeared. Caravans of horse-drawn carts moved slowly, carrying goods, with escorts and merchants among them, occasionally bursting into rough laughter.

Ye Chen approached silently, muttering to himself incoherently, leaving the entire caravan stunned.

"Probably just a beggar." Someone sized him up.

"Not so sure—looks like he's lost his mind. I'd say he's been through some trauma."

"Hey, buddy." A burly man with a large saber reached out and patted Ye Chen's shoulder.

But the man's hand passed right through Ye Chen's body as if it were air, as though Ye Chen were an illusion.

What...?

The burly man was terrified, and so was everyone in the caravan. It was broad daylight, yet they felt like they'd seen a ghost.

Ye Chen moved on like a specter, without a sound or a trace. Long after he had gone, the caravan finally snapped out of it. "Let's go, quickly. That guy's too ominous."

Ye Chen set off again, with no path home and no direction.

His form grew even stranger as he walked—one moment he was a young man, the next he shrank into a boy, then became a child, only to grow back into a boy, then a young man, then a middle-aged man, and finally an elder.

What...?

On the open land, groups of passersby stopped in their tracks, staring at Ye Chen in disbelief.

"Grandpa, that person looks so weird!" A childish voice piped up, coming from a child in a bamboo basket on an old man's back, whose big eyes blinked as he watched Ye Chen walk by.

Thud! Thud!

As soon as the child spoke, the stunned crowd dropped to their knees.

"Immortal! It's an immortal!"

Ye Chen said nothing, simply walking past without leaving any trace.

As evening fell and night deepened, he entered an ancient city, his expression wooden and his eyes murky.

Though his body appeared solid, he passed through buildings and palaces as if they were the illusions, not him.

Ghost!

Soon, the quiet ancient city erupted with cries of terror, one after another, wave upon wave.

Imagine sleeping soundly or enjoying yourself when suddenly someone walks through your room, muttering strangely—it would feel just like seeing a ghost.

The chaos wasn't limited to this city; wherever Ye Chen went, ancient cities fell into uproar.

In the dead of night, in the imperial palace of Tianlan Ancient Country, the Tianlan Emperor knelt outside a daoist temple. "Esteemed immortal, ghosts have been causing havoc in Tianlan, alarming the people. I beg you to intervene and subdue them."

"Outrageous! Bring me my Baiyun Ju." A man emerged from the temple, sharp-faced and monkey-like—it was none other than the young cultivator Li Xiao.

In the darkness, he mounted his horse and galloped off toward the disturbance.

The scene looked somewhat comical: a cultivator riding a mundane horse, not particularly skilled and quite poor, without even a spiritual beast for transport.

Ghost!

Under the moonlight, another ancient city echoed with screams of fear, all because Ye Chen, the specter, had arrived, sending children throughout the city into tears.

Ye Chen paused, gazing around in confusion. After a few seconds, he moved his feet under everyone's watchful eyes.

Halt!

Li Xiao charged in, riding his Baiyun Ju with an air of authority, wielding the spiritual sword that Ye Chen had once given him.

But when he clearly saw Ye Chen's face, he lost his balance and tumbled off the horse. Luckily, as a cultivator with spiritual energy to protect him, he avoided serious injury.

"I... I greet the senior." Li Xiao scrambled up and prostrated himself at Ye Chen's feet.

"You've seen me before?"

Ye Chen spoke, and his words left Li Xiao dumbfounded—though not from a fall, but from sheer confusion.

"Y-yes, I have."

"Who am I?"

Ye Chen's voice was hoarse, devoid of any emotion.

"You are... you are..." Li Xiao opened his mouth but didn't know how to answer. Though Ye Chen had given him the sword, he had never revealed his name.

Suddenly, Ye Chen turned and walked away, his body flickering between ethereal and solid, aging and youthful, leaving Li Xiao staring in astonishment.

"This senior is just too..."

Ye Chen departed as quietly as he had come.

Li Xiao considered following but ultimately stopped. Once Ye Chen vanished, he rolled up his sleeves and shouted at the ordinary people, "What are you looking at? All of you, go back to sleep!"

As soon as he spoke, the people, who had been in a daze, scattered in fear. To them, this flippant immortal was more terrifying than the ghostly figure of Ye Chen.

In the dark night, Ye Chen wandered aimlessly, still without direction.

This was another long journey. He left Tianlan Ancient Country and entered another mortal realm, passing through ancient cities and lands, leaving no trace behind.

Kill!

In the pitch-black night, shouts of battle roared like ocean waves, the clash of weapons shaking the earth.

Looking out, two massive armies clashed like dark tidal waves.

This was a war among mortals. Though not as grand as cultivators' battles, it was still a slaughter where lives were as cheap as grass. The dark night was veiled in blood, and the vast earth was stained red.

Just as the fighting raged, Ye Chen appeared like a specter, his strange form following him as he walked.

Ghost!

The shouts of battle quickly turned to screams of terror. Whether generals or soldiers, they all abandoned their armor and fled in panic, as if they had lost the war.

The enormous battlefield emptied in an instant.

All that remained were the raging blood winds, the scattered corpses, the weapons thrust into the ground, and the war banners howling in the wind.

Ye Chen walked on, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. As he passed, yellow sand swept across the blood-soaked field, burying the bodies and bloodied weapons.

At some point, heavy snow began to fall, blanketing the vast world in white.

Along the way, the dazed Ye Chen saw many mortals starving to death by the roadside and many innocents killed in the chaos of war. The world was cruel; where there was desire, there was bloodshed.

On a rugged mountain path, Ye Chen stopped and quietly looked to his side.

There, a woman lay curled in a snowdrift, lifeless and frozen stiff.

Beside her was a two- or three-year-old girl, her little hands red from the cold. She struggled to shake her mother, the innocent child blissfully unaware, thinking her mother was just asleep.

"Mother, I'm hungry."

The little girl blinked her big eyes at the woman, and seeing no response, she crawled away. With her red hands, she dug through the snow, searching for something to eat.

The cold overwhelmed her, and she froze, her small body curled up, still clutching a mud-caked root in her hand.

Ye Chen stepped forward, his subconscious kindness leading him to pick up the little girl and vanish into the swirling snow. As he left, the woman was buried by the snow, her soul returning to the heavens.

In the night, in a rundown temple, a campfire burned.

Ye Chen sat quietly, his expression wooden and eyes murky, lost in thought.

Beside him, the little girl sat on a piece of clothing, hugging a spiritual fruit and eating it hungrily.

"Big brother, Ruoxi misses Mother."

At some point, the little girl lifted her head, looking up at Ye Chen with her bright eyes.